I shrieked as the scent of ozone filled my nose, bolting upright to the sound of an ugly, two-tone alarm. My hands flew over my body and I let out a shuddering sigh; intact. I snagged my phone from my bedside table, eyes dancing over the alert, then I tossed it aside and leaped from bed. I was costumed and running upstairs within two minutes of being torn from my nightmares.

  Tuesday, a day late. That was okay, great even relatively speaking. Sure I’d spent half of yesterday an anxious wreck, curled up with Amy watching shitty TV, but now it was game on. Sweat pricked my back as I entered the lobby, offering a nod to Miss Militia; she was the only other hero present right now.

  “Hey ma’am,” I greeted her, jogging over. “What do we have for details?”

  “There has been a chain of near constant earthquakes in the Indian city of New Delhi for the last thirty minutes,” Miss Militia replied. “We’re confident Behemoth is going to attack. The other heroes are on their way, and we have transport coming from Wotan’s Wolves.”

  “The Nazis,” I spat. “Bifrost?”

  “Yes, a new cape,” she said with a nod. “You’ve been keeping up.”

  “Not really,” I said. “Who the hell are Wotan’s Wolves? New gang?”

  “With Hookwolf’s joining the Nine, Fenrir’s Chosen splintered again,” she said. “This was only recent, but Krieg, Rune, and now Bifrost are their known capes.”

  “Fucking more Nazis,” I muttered bitterly. “Fuck it, whatever, bigger fatter issues. Did you call Amy?” Miss Militia shook her head and I pulled out my phone, dialing her and letting her know. “Okay, she’ll be here in a minute. Going by ‘Pandora’, by the way.” I stuffed my phone back in its pouch.

  “A new identity?”

  “Something like that,” I said vaguely. “Anyway, others? Locals?”

  “We informed the Undersiders and Ambassadors,” she replied. “New Wave won’t be coming, not ready is my understanding. The Wards are on their way, as are the Protectorate heroes who will be joining us. Sere and Battery, along with Autumn Rain, will remain here.” As she spoke, Amy joined us, huffing and puffing through the medical mask on her face.

  “Sorry,” she wheezed. “I uh, this is really happening?”

  “Yeah,” I said, taking her hand. “Sorry to wake you.” She shook her head.

  “Needed to come,” she said. “Need to...to help people.”

  “Pandora, is that right?” Miss Militia asked.

  “Uh, yes?”

  “I’ll ask you plainly before others arrive,” she said. “Are you disguising your powers or not, Amy?” Amy stiffened, then shook her head. “Very well, I’ll see that others respect your new identity.”

  “Um, thanks.” She looked at me. “You’re going?”

  “Sure as shit,” I said with a nod, then lowered my voice and leaned closer. “It’ll be okay, they’ll just have me doing search and rescue. Safe, relatively speaking.”

  “Were you doing that...last time?” Amy murmured, eyes flicking to Miss Militia who’d been kind enough to at least turn her back.

  “Don’t,” I said with a shake of my head. “This is what actually happened, that means we might win for real today.”

  She sighed and wrapped her arms around me. I hugged her back, then pulled away. Had to be focused right now. I held her hand as we waited for the others to arrive, and I couldn’t help bouncing my foot impatiently. This was it, this was it. I wasn’t sure where Lucknow had come from, but finally things were on the right track. Sure the heroes hadn’t got much warning, and had waited an unexpected day, but it had to be better than nothing.

  Now I just had to figure out who the guy with the bomb was and I was set. I didn’t know how to pronounce it, but once we arrived I’d write down what I remembered and start looking. What exactly I was going to do if or when I found him was...well I should probably figure it out sooner than later. Make sure he lived? Well yeah, obviously, but why would people be trying to kill the guy blowing up Behemoth?

  Okay so bodyguard, fine, whatever. Besides that what the hell else could I even try? Radios would be spotty at best, and I was pretty sure he was underground too just to make things harder. That meant telling him when Behemoth was closest was basically impossible, so spotting was out. There had to be something I could do besides being a human shield.

  If I managed to get in touch with the locals, they might be able to offer a hand with it. Of course I didn’t speak Indian, but surely someone would speak English wouldn’t they? They’d been colonized by the British, so probably. Maybe Dragon or Defiant could help, if they could translate or something. If they were even around, or listening to me.

  So much to manage, in a place I’d never been, from a story I’d never read and the other had read once. People I’d never met, who’d never heard of me, and I’d have to make them listen somehow. And I didn’t even know what to tell them. I let out a dry huff of laughter as capes began arriving and gathering around the Nazi fuck who’d be taking some of us to our graves. I could only hope I wasn’t one of them.

  With a bright, rainbow flash and a crackle of thunder, we arrived in a wide plaza. Several capes fell over as the ground rumbled violently, and Amy grabbed me tightly. I wobbled, but like I’d noticed the first time it didn’t affect me as much as the others. I could see smoke rising, not in tremendous plumes like Behemoth had surfaced, but from a few scattered fires.

  “Brockton Bay!” I raised my head and saw Chevalier and a few others gathered nearby. All of us jogged over to join him. “Glad you could make it. Others?”

  “A second group will be along soon,” Miss Militia said. “Adamant will be with Vista and several villains who have pledged to work with us.”

  “Good.” He already sounded tired. I guess it had been nighttime on our side of the world. “We’re not exactly sure what he’s targetting here. Dragon is surveying now, she’s been on station since the earthquakes started. Defiant’s shuttling capes from anywhere without a teleporter. Had some good intel about where and roughly when, so we’re expecting a lot of reinforcements.”

  “Still,” Chevalier continued, looking over our group. “Since we don’t know what he’s going after, we’re treating this as a soft target. That means we’re fighting hard for every last inch. If you can fight him, fight him. If you can’t, stay back and remain on call for search, rescue, and recovery. Any healers will go with Aloe here to where we’ve set up the field hospital, but be ready to move when Behemoth surfaces.” I noticed he was gesturing to a cape in a white and green robe. Where was Vala? “Grab an armband and identify yourselves. Follow the directions there.”

  “Come with me to the hospital?” Amy asked. I glanced back at the other heroes and sighed.

  “I can’t,” I said. “I have to help where I can, like everyone. I’m no good at fixing people, but I can sometimes get them out of harms way. I’ll stay as safe as I can, I promise.”

  “Fine,” she said, a little tersely. “I… Forget it.” I stretched up and pressed my masked lips to hers, holding the ‘kiss’ for a few seconds.

  “See you soon, okay?”

  “Okay.” She turned and followed Aloe, and I joined the rest of the Brockton Bay Wards, now fleshed out with the Undersiders gathered nearby. Vista gave my shoulder a punch when I came over, then handed me an armband.

  “So, you and A-- Pandora, huh?” she said, giving me a shit-eating grin.

  “Yeah yeah, yuk it up,” I said, then spoke into my armband before continuing. “Not going to apologize for trying to have something nice going on.”

  “I’m just glad you two aren’t dancing around it anymore,” Clockblocker commented. “God that was painful. You guys remember movie night? The first kiss scene.” Vista giggled.

  “Pandora couldn’t look away from you,” she said. “But you only had eyes for Dianne.”

  “It’s a good movie,” I mumbled bashfully. “Can we just forget about it?”

  “We do have bigger problems,” Kid Win agreed, fiddling with a massive cannon that had been brought with the second group.

  “We can’t really worry about them until he’s on the surface,” Clockblocker countered. “But you’re right, let’s start talking strategy. Evac orders mean it should be mostly clear for you, Vista, but depends on where he shows up. I’d rather you helped get capes out quicker, but you’re probably going to be pulled onto the frontline. Remember to keep your distance. Win, no flight.”

  “What?” he demanded.

  “Electronics get scrambled, remember,” Clock explained.

  “Why are they bothering with armbands then?” I asked.

  “Because they’re not vital, and when they’re functioning they’re useful,” he said with a shrug. “But I’d rather not have Win fall fifty feet and break his neck.”

  “Fine,” Kid Win sighed. “Have to hope my guns are a bit more useful.”

  “Amaranth and Crucible, search and rescue obviously,” he continued. “I’ll be on the front, so Crucible if it’s just you two, you’re in charge.”

  “Got it boss,” Crucible replied.

  “Sure,” I said, rolling my eyes. Yeah right. I looked around the plaza and saw a familiar costume among unfamiliar capes. “Hey, wait a sec.” I strode over to the idiot who’d left us behind for a girl. “Flechette,” I greeted her coldly.

  “Oh, Amaranth,” she replied brightly. “It’s really good to see you. Are you doing okay? How’s the team?” I glowered up at her.

  “You left,” I said flatly, making her flinch.

  “Sorry,” she said, lowering her voice. “She needed me more.” I clicked my tongue.

  “You’re wrong,” I snapped, then sighed and softened my tone. “But I’m glad to see you here.”

  “Atheos,” Flechette said, nodding to a tall hero in navy-blue armour, a huge mace swinging at his belt. “He’s part of the Boston team. Helped me...land when we got there. Made sure I got registered as an independent affiliate and stuff.”

  “And Parian?” Flechette shook her head. “Yeah, not much she could do here anyway.”

  “Not sure how much I can do either,” she admitted. “The New York team should be bringing one of my big arbalests, but my range with it is still only a couple hundred feet.”

  “And Ballistic went home,” I sighed. “You know any other capes that can throw big hunks of metal?” She shook her head. “Figures.”

  “Hey, Amaranth.” Flechette took a deep breath. “I really appreciate everything you said. I know you might think I’m an idiot, but I listened, and I really thought about this. So...thanks, even though I didn’t follow your advice.” I shrugged.

  “It’s fine,” I said, not sure how to respond. “Don’t die.”

  “Uh, you too.”

  This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

  I returned to my team, ignoring the odd looks I got. When Vista asked, I just shook my head; it wasn’t worth it when we had bigger issues. Kid Win was still working on his gun, the size of a small car. A cape with a red crescent moon on her chest passed out some pills, telling us to take them now if we didn’t want radiation poisoning. We shared a look, then choked them down. As I was trying not to gag it back up, the ground shuddered and a dull roar echoed all around. In my ear, I heard Dragon’s voice tinged with a bit of anxiety on my armband.

  “Behemoth is surfacing in the old city to the south,” she said, multiple ‘booms’ echoing overhead as six mechs flew over. “Teleporters, use grid CT-17 as a staging area. Prioritize Tinkers and their weapons.”

  “Come on!” Kid Win shouted. “She doesn’t like being teleported! I’m going to have to calibrate her again!”

  “Win, chill,” Clockblocker said, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Okay, everyone else let’s move.”

  Move we did, following directions shouted by Chevalier at the head of us. The Undersiders kept pace, but stayed mounted on Bitch’s dogs. Really, we didn’t need the directions, the firestorm ahead made it clear exactly where the monster had risen to the surface. I could see Behemoth peeking out of the cloud of smoke and ash, his cyclops eye glowing hatefully. A column of lightning struck a tall spire and shattered it with a sound that I could feel.

  “Holy shit,” I breathed as we charged towards him.

  I hadn’t seen much of him the last fight, focused more on trying not to wipe out on my new boots. Plus he’d built up the cloud of soot and ash til it practically obscured him. He was gigantic, twice as tall as Leviathan, but way bulkier. Heat waves rippled around him, and even at this distance I could feel the temperature rise. More lighting struck as Dragon’s mechs swooped in, blasting him with beams of icy-blue.

  Colourful capes swooped overhead, joining the fray and pelting Behemoth with their own powers. With a flash, Legend and Eidolon appeared ahead and dove in. Legend’s lasers blasted craters in Behemoth’s obsidian scales, and Eidolon… He wasn’t engaging, he was trying to stop the firestorms that the lightning barrages were making. Flames were drawn into a sphere at his hand, and then extinguished.

  Well, we all had our part I guess. Finally we made it to a large promenade surrounded by collapsed buildings. I panted, leaning over and pressing my fingers into my side to fix a stitch as I looked around. There were massive, Tinker-tech weapons all over the place, their makers scrambling around making last minute adjustments. Kid Win had finished on the smaller of his two guns, it seemed, and was making adjustments to another the size of a bus.

  And then there were the civilians. Thousands of them fleeing Behemoth en masse. They mostly stayed away from the Tinkers and their guns, but I could see capes struggling to wade through them towards Behemoth. Chevalier, Tattletale, Accord, and a few other capes headed inside one of the only buildings left standing; command center then. Another dull ‘boom’ echoed overhead, and a whine of engines grew louder as Defiant’s ship landed nearby.

  Oh shit, I needed to talk to him about the local cape and the bomb. I ran towards the ship, ignoring the dozen other capes moving to join the fray. Crucible yelled after me, but I ignored him too and angled towards Defiant. He was speaking quietly to another Tinker, at least judging by the power armour. He quieted up when I approached.

  “Hey,” I said. “I need to talk to you.”

  “About this?” Defiant asked, gesturing to the growing firestorm that was obscuring the Endbringer.

  “Yeah.” I glanced at the other cape, then back at Defiant. “Deciphering a name. I’m hoping you can help, or maybe help me talk to the locals and figure it out.”

  “Atomica, set up your UDMs on the south line,” he spoke to the Tinker.

  “If you’re sure,” Atomica said hesitantly.

  “Once he’s clear of the taller blocks it’s a clear shot,” he explained. “Earlier if he clears the blocks.”

  “Got it.”

  “Quickly,” Defiant said as the Tinker ran off. “We don’t have much time.”

  “Damn right,” I agreed. “You have a pen and paper?” He took out a tablet and stencil. Okay sure. I grabbed them. “Okay listen I don’t speak Indian, but I think I remember how this guy’s name was spelled. Here, fursee.” I turned the tablet around and showed him.

  “Phir Sē,” he corrected.

  “Wait really?” Fear-say? “Okay whatever, listen, he has a bomb that’s powerful enough to damn near kill Behemoth. Not outright, maybe, but it’ll buy us a lot more time than anything the Tinkers brought.” A skeleton, if I was remembering right.

  “Your prediction is rather...detailed for you.”

  “Proximity’s a bitch and so am I.” I flinched as a tower of lighting as wide as a building crashed down in the distance. God only knew what had been there… “I need your help. I don’t speak Indian, I don’t know how to deal with these guys. Maybe you don’t either, but you’ve been a cape a hell of a lot longer than me. I sort of trust your judgment.”

  “Dragon, thoughts?”

  “Little busy Defiant.” She sounded strained. “Managing a lot of suits. Could use help.”

  “I’m sorry Amaranth,” Defiant said, turning back to his ship. “We need to hold him back long enough for Scion to arrive.”

  “This is part of that!” I said, throwing up my arms.

  “Bring this up to Chevalier,” he said. “He’s in command, and an excellent strategist. Good luck, Amaranth.”

  He got in the ship and with a whine of jets, it rose into the air. Bastard. I grit my teeth and ran towards the building I’d seen Chevalier head into. If Defiant wouldn’t help, well, maybe this would work. I could only pray. Crucible charged in front of me, blocking the way.

  “The hell are you doing?” he demanded. “We’re supposed to be on search and rescue.”

  “I’ve got info for Chevalier,” I spat. “Get out of the way.”

  “Nuh uh,” he said, shaking his head. “Come on, people need us.”

  “I’ll literally be two minutes,” I said, ducking past him and sprinting off.

  No one stopped me when I went into the building, fortunately. It didn’t take long to find where Chevalier had gone, a floor up in the largest room possible. A table had been set up and he was standing there with Tattletale and Accord. Others, I assumed Accord’s mooks, stood behind them. They stopped speaking when I approached.

  “Chevalier, sir,” I said, out of breath. “My name’s Amaranth, Brockton Bay Wards. I’m the one that gave Defiant the rough date for Behemoth.” I saw Tattletale’s eyes widen. “I have information that might help us, but I don’t know what to do with it.”

  “Go on,” he said.

  “A local cape named Phir Sē,” thank you Defiant,” has a bomb here capable of nearly destroying Behemoth. Not totally, but I think it would damage him enough to delay him until Scion could get here and turn the tide. I don’t know anything about the locals though, do you guys have like, a liaison?”

  “Holy shit you’re serious,” Tattletale said. “How the hell did you find that out?”

  “Tricks of the trade,” I replied dryly.

  “You’re certain this will work?” Chevalier asked.

  “Without knowing the location or allegiance of this parahuman, we cannot factor him into our defense plan,” Accord said coldly. “And this is by far the best way we can delay Behemoth with the resources we can be certain of.”

  “And I’m saying we need to locate him and bring him in on this,” I said. “It’s not a kill shot but it’s better than anything else we have.”

  “Could have told us a little earlier,” Tattletale snipped.

  “I was trying to handle it another way,” I countered. “But here we are. Chevalier?”

  “What do you need?” he asked. I breathed a sigh of relief.

  “A cape who can speak Indian and—”

  “Hindi you dumbass,” Tattletale bitched.

  “And fuck off,” I spat. “A cape who can speak Hindi, and a local who knows the area. I think it was underground, so I don’t know, secret lair?” Tattletale scoffed.

  “I’ll have a task force put together,” Chevalier said, gesturing to a cape...with a cape. Huh, that was the first I’d seen, besides Alexandria. “Thank you Amaranth. What’s your role in this fight?”

  “Recovery,” I said with a shrug. “But now I should—”

  “You should get back out there,” he said, turning his attention back to the table. “And stay safe.”

  “Sir shouldn’t I be trying to find this cape?”

  “You said you didn’t know where he was, or how to find him,” he replied evenly. “You’ve brought this to our attention, now we can have capes who specialize in this on the task. The best thing you can do is your own part.” I glowered at him for a moment, then sighed.

  “Yes sir,” I said, then turned and headed out.

  God dammit. Well...he wasn’t wrong. I didn’t have the social skills or Thinker powers to sort this mess out. Tattletale did, but she was busy and probably wouldn’t want to work with me anyway. I’d just have to trust the guy they put in charge of the whole Protectorate. Which...well, hopefully he was better than the last guy.

  I shook my head, didn’t need to be thinking about that right now. I joined Crucible without a word, and we followed the directions of the armbands into the city. There were only two mechs left, circling above Behemoth and blasting away. Legend was in there too, and other flyers with them.

  But my part was down here, pushing through the thinning, but still substantial crowds towards the monster. Oh god I could only pray Amy was alright in all this. The soot was growing thicker and the fires worse. I was reminded of the firebombing back home and it made me shiver. I’d be okay, I had to be, for her.

  A tremendous thunderclap echoed, and I saw Behemoth had brought his hands together with enough force to shatter a nearby apartment tower. Screams echoed around us and the crush of the crowd became worse. It took ten, long minutes of fighting through them but we finally got through the worst and started actually following our armbands and doing our job.

  We found a fallen cape within a minute, half-buried under debris. The two of us managed to shift it off him, then called for a pickup. Thirty seconds later, a flyer swooped in, grabbed him, and took off again. We continued, getting closer to the Endbringer. No more mechs were flying around, but Eidolon had joined Legend in keeping him at bay. Sweat was stinging at my eyes and my lungs were burning.

  Another cape in red, choking and gagging. Her throat had been damaged, it seemed, and we called for a teleporter; breathing was...pretty urgent. It was almost a minute of listening to the woman’s tortured gasps for air before Bifrost appeared, grabbed her arm, then vanished. We rose and moved on.

  Despite the proximity to Behemoth, I found I wasn’t terribly afraid. Nervous that he’d change direction, sure, but I felt like I could actually do this for once. A weird feeling to have in the middle of an Endbringer fight. Maybe I was getting too used to this shit, to life and death and death. I shook my head; problems for later.

  Next was a trio of capes in similarly styled black and red costumes, with bird-like masks. One was clearly dead, folded in half backwards over a piece of rubble. The others were breathing, though it sounded bad. We called for a pickup, but instead an arrow appeared on our armbands. We shared a look, then shrugged.

  I took the smaller one, though ‘smaller’ still meant almost a foot taller than me. They were light though, shockingly so. Something to do with their bird theme? Their costumes did have black feathers embroidered on them, on closer inspection. I took a deep breath and struck out behind Crucible. I was getting distracted, lots going on, lots to think about.

  For now, getting this cape some medical attention. The smoke had washed over us, so thick it was hard to see fifty feet ahead. Where the hell was Behemoth? Somewhere behind, that was where I could make out brilliant flashes of light. A bolt of lighting crashed down on a building just behind me, sending it crashing to the ground. I sped up as much as I could.

  We finally made it to the scattering of tents in a plaza with a toppled spire at the center, collapsed into the pool at its base. There were stretchers laid out everywhere and so, so many wounded. We handed off the capes to a pair of men in white, and I asked for some water. Crucible gave me a look, but I just shook my head; I needed a minute before I kept going.

  One of the men brought back a bottle, and I turned my back to the tents to pull my mask down and drink. I chugged half the bottle, then held it out to Crucible. He gave me a nod and took it, drinking the rest as I masked back up. The plumes of smoke were growing thicker, and closer. Was he coming this way? I couldn’t tell. Lightning struck just down the road, making me flinch.

  “You’re handling this well for a rookie,” Crucible said once he’d finished.

  “Not my first Endbringer fight,” I said with a shrug. “At this point, I’m pretty sure I’ve fought more S-class threats than gangsters.” I licked my lips, sweat pricking at my back. “Just means I’m better at hiding it though.”

  “Yeah?” he asked. “Shit.”

  “You’re handling it pretty well for someone who’s never fought an Endbringer.” He grimaced and raised a hand, shaking violently. “Ah.”

  “Volunteered for this ‘cause it’s what heroes do,” Crucible said. “Told Rain to stay back, she was pissed when she found out I was going anyway.”

  “You two are friends?” I ventured.

  “Something like that,” he scoffed. “Anyway, didn’t really think of what I could actually...do, you know? Running around like this… I get we’re helping, but it doesn’t feel like it sometimes.” An orange glow lit the smoke and the ground shuddered violently enough that Crucible fell down.

  “I get it,” I said, helping him up. “Believe me, I’d rather be doing the actually important shit here. But Chevalier has a team on it and...and I’m doing my part I guess.” He gave me a nod.

  “Thinking I misjudged you, maybe a little.”

  “Yeah, well, feeling’s mutual.” I started as an explosion rippled through the air, sending a hot gust of wind our way. “The fu—”

  “Cover! Shields!”

  I looked up and swore as massive, glowing boulders plummeted down. I grabbed Crucible and pulled him to the ground, shielding as much of his torso and head as I could. He was a big guy, so that was the best he would get. He yelled incoherently in my ear, drowned out by the crash of debris around us. It was only seconds, but it felt like an eternity. I rose on shaky legs and looked around, letting out a squeak of shock. The hospital was burning, dozens of nurses and capes laying wounded or dead. Oh fuck.

  “Amy!” I screamed, running into the wreckage. “Amy!” I ran through rows of dead and wounded, leaping over people in my path. Tears blurred my vision and I blinked them away. Needed to find her, needed— “Amy!”

  I dropped to my knees beside her. She was in bad shape, an ugly burn creeping up her neck and over her cheek. Blood flowed from cuts on her forehead and chest. I pressed a hand to the wound there, drawing a groan of pain. I sobbed with relief, my other hand reaching up to touch her cheek.

  “Amy, christ alive,” I choked. “You’re okay, you’re gonna be okay.”

  “L- Lia?” Amy turned her head to look at me. Her mask had been torn away and her lips were cracked and bloody. “You’re okay. Oh thank g—” She coughed, and blood spattered on my hand. “Shit.”

  “Fuck, this is deeper than I thought.” I tore the tattered remains of her shirt off and grimaced at the bubbling wound. “Fuck, fuck, fuck, okay, um.” Plastic bag, I needed something like that, and tape. “Amy put pressure on that. Amy?” She stared at me, blinking slowly.

  “Lia,” she wheezed.

  “Yeah, what?” I asked, pressing my hand down hard to try and stop her lungs from collapsing entirely.

  “You’re okay…” Behind the wash of soot, I could see her face getting paler. “I’m sorry.”

  “No, shut up, you’re going to be okay!” The ground shuddered and a tremendous thunderclap exploded near enough to make my ears ring.

  “Thanks for being here,” she murmured, barely audible over the storm of noise. Tears made tracks down the dust on her face. “I’m sorry.”

  “No, come on, please!” I couldn’t do this. I wrapped my arms around her.

  The world went white, and I let my projection fall away.